It has long been realized that as a general rule, the efficiency of mechanical devices decreases rapidly with the onset of colder temperatures. This is particularly true with motor vehicles. As temperatures decrease, lubricants tend to increase in viscosity, thereby requiring greater energy on the part of the vehicle starting system to "turn over" a cold engine. At the same time, it is more difficult for fuel to vaporize, thereby also hindering the starting process. Yet, under the very conditions requiring maximum output from the vehicle electrical system, the typical electrochemical vehicle storage battery has also lost efficiency due to the temperature decrease.
Even assuming that all the systems of the vehicle are in optimum operating condition, there will still be a great deal of increased wear and tear of the systems subjected to startup in such cold conditions. Due to the thickening of lubricants, more time is needed for the oil pump to force such lubricants to critical areas, and at the same time the excess fuel required to provide for sufficient vaporization tends to wash down or dilute what lubricants may remain in such critical areas from the previous time the vehicle was run. Typically, the vehicle battery is more deeply discharged during cold weather starting, which tends to shorten the life of such a battery even if the vehicle charging system is operating optimally.
While various devices have been developed to overcome one or more of the conditions noted above, each of these devices typically addresses only a single component of the system. Moreover, while many such devices are known which are capable of preheating critical mechanical or electrical components, the question of the vehicle interior has been largely neglected. Although some vehicle interior preheating devices are known, they generally fall short of providing for all of the preheating needs of modern vehicles. Not only is the preheating of the vehicle interior helpful in maintaining the pliability of many of the materials used in modern vehicle interiors and thus preventing their cracking or deterioration due to the brittleness caused by cold conditions, but warming the vehicle interior can be helpful from the standpoint of driver comfort and therefore safety, as the driver will be able to attend to driving the vehicle more efficiently when not distracted by the discomfort of cold conditions until the vehicle interior reaches comfortable temperatures as the engine warms to normal operating temperatures during operation.
Although devices are known which perform many or most of the above functions, in order to make use of such devices to preheat the vehicles it is necessary in may cases to activate the devices some two hours or more prior to starting the vehicle due to the relatively low power output of the devices and the resulting time required to warm the related components thoroughly. For the typical motorist, this requires either activating the devices before retiring for the night, which results in the usage of electrically energy for the entire night, or rising an hour or more earlier than otherwise in order to activate the devices sufficiently early to allow the thorough warming of components before starting the vehicle. While various timers are known, the use of such a device would add yet another component for the operator to handle each time he desired to preheat the vehicle. Moreover, assuming that the vehicle required some few preheating devices, it is possible that their simultaneous use could overload the circuit from which they were drawing their energy.
What is needed is a vehicle preheating system providing for the preheating of not only various essential mechanical components of the vehicle, but also for the warming of the vehicle interior. Such a system must be capable of being preset to allow actuation without the presence of the vehicle operator or other persons, and adjustable to provide for the alternate actuation of the various heating components of the system in order to allow the system to draw power from a single circuit without overloading that circuit. All of the devices should be wholly contained within the vehicle, with no requirement for the operator to remove or install equipment prior to operating the vehicle, and all equipment should be capable of preheating the vehicle without the need to draw power from the battery of the vehicle.
A further feature to include in a vehicle preheating system is the ability to utilize the present interior heating apparatus of the automobile that was installed at the factory. These heating systems are usually hot water systems that run from the engine block to the fan in the outlet section and back again. It would ease the installation of a preheating system if it was possible to use this original hot water circulation system. Using the hot water circulation system removes the necessity of having to modify the outlet section of the interior heater. Only the easily accessible water lines would be affected.